Mr Conductor's Injury
by Goldsaddletank
Summary: Lady, Thomas and Lily help Mr. Conductor when he is injured by Diesel 10 after the chase. (Rated K for blood, but nothing terrifying or graphic)


A/N: A request for a guest reviewer (Guest). I hope you enjoy this story! This contains changes to the aftermath of Diesel 10's chase. Contains blood, but nothing horrific.

...

Lady, Thomas, Burnett Stone, his granddaughter Lily, Mr Conductor and Junior cheered as they watched Diesel 10 head into exile on a smelly barge- they had done it. Lady was still alive and well, the Magic Railroad was saved, and the future of gold dust was secured. Eight arms all shot up into the air to express their ecstasy- but two blue clad arms shot back down again.

"Mr Conductor!" Lily cried in horror, as she saw Mr Conductor grip his arm, his face screwing up in agony.

"Are you alright, Mr Conductor?" Lady asked in concern, upon noticing the guardian of Shining Time's obvious agony.

"No, I'm not- Diesel 10's claw dug into my arm without me noticing." Mr Conductor replied. He pulled his hand away from his arm, revealing a scarlet patch blossoming on the sleeve of his now crumpled and filthy uniform. "I'll be fine, really- I just need a bit of attention on that wound- that's all." He assured. "It's not fatal."

"Are you sure?" Thomas inquired, anxiety threading through his voice. "It does look really painful..."

Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief which Burnett and Lady both recognised as having belonged to Tasha, Burnett's wife and Lily's grandmother. "Here, hold still." She said gently.

Junior stood numb with shock at the whole event, as the little girl carefully applied pressure to his cousin's wound.

Such a terrible thing had never happened to their family before. He didn't know what to think- how could this be happening? His cousin was much more sensible than he himself was- he wouldn't allow himself to get injured so easily.

In fact, he wouldn't allow himself to get injured at all.

"You do look very weak," Lady noted, a grim expression crossing her face. Junior had to admit, he would have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire- she reminded him of a school librarian with that look.

Lily dabbed what little blood there was remaining, and winced as she finished. Jagged marks stood out on his pale right arm, which he cradled like a new-born infant to his chest as soon as she stepped back.

"I wish I knew what else to do, Grandfather," she admitted sadly to Burnett, tears welling in her eyes.

"It looks like that wound will need stitches, Mr Conductor." Burnett sighed gloomily.

"Cheer up, Mr Stone, there is still hope we can heal him without medical attention." Lady began. "We need...gold dust."

"But I thought it was meant to keep the Conductors' sparkle going?" Thomas asked, puzzled.

"It is- but it's not limited to that, Thomas. It can also heal others, if used correctly. But it can only heal the 'spirits of the railway'. That includes Mr Conductor."

"Right- so we can make gold dust and save Mr Conductor?" Lily asked hopefully.

"Correct. First, we need shavings from the Magic Railroad. But...we shall have to head to Muffle Mountain to go through the Magic Railroad, and it is a bit of a wasted journey, as we have no real need to venture there, and Mr Conductor is in urgent need of treatment."

"Will this do?" Lily asked, holding out some gold specks from her pocket that she had collected from the Magic Railroad before the chase with Diesel 10. Lady's face broke into a bright beam.

"Perfect! Thank you, Lily. Now, Junior, where is that old magic well?" She asked directly, making Junior jump in surprise at being startled out of his thoughts.

"Oh it's over near..."

...

At that, the cavalcade headed for the well to draw the mystical waters from deep, deep down. Burnett and Junior fumbled with the rusted bucket and fraying rope, but the eventually managed to get the bucket down into the well for the water.

Once the pair had retrieved the objective of their mission, they let Lily mix the ingredients together in the bucket, creating the magical gold dust they had urgently needed.

"Hooray!" They all cheered.

Junior carefully took out a small amount of the dust in white- clenched fists. He walked slowly up to his cousin, still holding his injured arm. It was no longer bleeding, but it still looked very sore.

"It will sting," Lady warned, with concern etched on her face once again.

At the last minute before Junior applied the dust, Mr Conductor felt small fingers intertwine with his own- Lily's. She gave him a smile, as if to say 'be brave.'

Thomas and Lady were both looking hopeful, sympathetic and kind smiles from the line, and Burnett was leaning against his engine's cab carefully, nodding in the conductor's direction. Mr Conductor smiled back, and gave one reluctant tilt to Junior.

The blond man applied like, like an ointment, and he did try to be gentle, but he could still hear his cousin hiss in pain, before gold light flashed across the wound. It split into thousands of tiny little lights of blue, gold and white which danced across the exposed, scarred flesh like tiny dancers, before they settled on his arm, and giving him a mild electric shock in the process- or an equivalent of one, anyway.

When the light had cleared, they could no longer see the stinging, angry mark Diesel 10 had left- just pale flesh that was restored to normal.

Overcome with relief, Junior hugged Mr Conductor, promising to himself, and his family back home, that he didn't want anyone else in his family to get hurt, ever again.

And Lily was relieved that her new friends were all okay now, more or less. Diesel 10 may nearly have cost the two steamies their lives, as well as others like James, bestowed havoc to the railway and gifted great pain to both Mr Conductor and Junior, but they had triumphed, not once, but twice.

The first time had been defeating Diesel 10 himself, and the second time for eliminating any physical traces of his tyranny.


End file.
